USM, PENANG, 15 November 2016 – Challenges for universities would be more demanding in the 21^st century especially in preparing students to meet and suit the global requirements of today and the future.

The Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Vice-Chancellor, Professor Datuk Dr. Asma Ismail said that, at USM we are passionate in producing graduates who are critical thinkers, problem-solvers and with high employability yet balanced between knowledge and character.

“We want our future students to be value-driven, multidisciplinary, multilingual, learned, entrepreneurial and job creators, as well as being more flexible and adaptable to cope with the demands of the 21st century,” said Asma in delivering her welcoming address at the Huawei Career Programme and CEO Talk here yesterday.

She added that USM is grateful for having Huawei Technologies (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. as an industry partner and for Huawei to organise such a programme in USM that I believe will give a better picture and understanding to the students and graduates of the vision of Huawei and the career advancement available there.

“In fact USM is in the discussion with Huawei to allow its students to be involved in some of their programmes to enhance graduate employability; to be involved in some of the research that Huawei is doing especially in ICT, elective industrial attachments, and also involvement in 2U2I (2 years in the University, 2 years in the Industry).

“Students would also have the opportunity to be attached in Huawei China and experience the working culture there. Learn and gain as much knowledge, skills and experience as possible and come out from the industry one day to be job creators.

“In order for the future graduates to be relevant and successful in the industry, some exposure to the actual working environment is helpful as it would also provide an opportunity for them to preview potential employers,” added Asma.

Meanwhile the Chief Executive Officer of Huawei Technologies (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Abraham Liu Kang said that Huawei has always placed importance in embarking on collaborative efforts with the Ministry of Higher Education and universities in enhancing graduate employability.

"Successful collaboration between academia and industry is key towards the advancement and growth of higher education in Malaysia and Huawei is pleased to be part of the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2015-2025 (Higher Education)," said Abraham Liu who had also served before as CEO of Huawei Republic of Congo Africa for 9 years.

Huawei, based in China, is among the world’s leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider and it has always had a global vision that is building a high quality and better connected world.

It provides service to over one third of the world’s population and made it presence felt in over 170 countries worldwide.

Abraham Liu also shared that one of the reasons of Huawei’s rapid rise globally was their continuous investment in research and development and innovation (R&D&I) where they allocated more than 10% of their annual revenue in this focused area.

“Continuous emphasis and investment in R&D&I has helped to give continuous strength to Huawei to grow worldwide,” he added.

“At Huawei, no matter what is your major or field of studies, as long as you are good and willing to learn, you will have a chance to advance in your career with Huawei; most importantly, we provide you the opportunity to change the world and make it a better place to live in,” he said.

Among those present were the Director of USM International Mobility and Career Centre (IMCC) Dr. Muhizam Mustafa; Director of National Advanced IPv6 Centre Professor Dr. Rosni Abdullah@Mustafa and Chief Information Officer of USM Centre for Knowledge, Communication and Technology Zulham Hamdan.

Huawei personnel were also present to conduct on site interview with students and career guidance sessions.

Text: Tan Ewe Hoe / Photo: Mohd Fairus Md. Isa